Krista Scott Dixon, The First Rule of the Fast Club (on her Stumptuous Blog) It’s from 2012 but it’s still one the best things I’ve read about intermittent fasting. Fasting is in the news a lot these days (again!) and if you’re curious, go have a look.
“One 2018 study of 658 parents by Yale researchers found that although nearly everyone (93 percent) demonstrated some sort of weight bias, fathers, as well as parents of any gender with the perceived privilege of “healthy weight,” were more likely than mothers to agree with negative statements such as “Severely obese children are unusually untidy” (findings on the differences between mothers’ and fathers’ food parenting vary). Other research concluded that fathers with more education and a higher family income were more likely than other fathers to endorse fat stereotypes. And kids absorb this stigma: Adolescents were more likely to diet and binge eat if their parents talked about weight, according to a 2013 survey published in JAMA Pediatrics of 2,793 kids.”
“Canada’s Kelsey Mitchell won gold in the women’s sprint finals on the second day of competition at the UCI Track Nations Cup on Saturday in Milton, Ont., collecting her second medal in as many days.
The 29-year-old from Sherwood Park, Alta., was matched up with Colombia’s Martha Bayona in a best-of-three final, already guaranteed more hardware a day after finishing second in the women’s team sprint alongside compatriots Lauriane Genest and Sarah Orban.” From CBC.
Sarah and I dropped in to the velodrome Saturday night to watch some of the racing. It was pretty exciting seeing riders from all over the world, racing all the different track race formats, and lots of women. I couldn’t stay very long. I’m still very much recovering from knee surgery. But it was pretty exciting viewing and it felt great to get out of the house. If you haven’t watched bike racing at the velodrome, I recommend it.
For those of us who live in northern climes, it’s both spring and not-yet-spring. Here in the Boston area, the daffodils and a number of ambitious tulips are up and running. But the bright sun and blue skies and delightful warmth we crave are only available on a spotty basis. Yes, April really is the cruelest month, at least in my view.
In addition to the swing-set and merry-go-round gyrations of the weather, there’s also the roller-coaster ride which is the academic year to finish and disembark from. This is a fact of life for all who teach for a living, and all of us who harbor students in our midst. It’s not easy, I’m telling you. So, no one can fault me for looking to squeeze in a little time-out or peacefulness break during last few weekends before May arrives. Spoiler: I’ve found two so far. Hope you might find some of it useful in your own search for the strength to make it through until May.
First, the rural experience: my friend, acupuncturist and fellow book club member Lisa scoped out a local alpaca farm (located conveniently near another club member’s home) and organized a pre-book-club visit last Sunday afternoon. You could tell right away this was a fun place:
You can get a sense of a place by its signs. “Notice: Don’t let the alpacas out, no matter what they say!”I’d pay 5 cents for an alpaca kiss, for sure…As in all social situations, alpacas have rules for proper behavior.
The owner led us into the barn, where the female alpacas were hanging out. They were as adorable as their reputations led me to believe, even though they somehow didn’t make this list of the eight cutest animals ever. Hmphf.
It’s apparently common for the alpacas to hang out facing the same way, in case something disconcerting happens; then they can scamper away en masse. Seriously, isn’t that one of the cutest animal faces ever?
We were allowed to pet them, provided that they were amenable. We were told not to stick our hands out in front of their faces– I mean, that’s just rude, right? If they were close enough, we could pet their soft wooly necks. Since we were the last tour of the weekend, the owner said that the alpacas were kind of over the tourists (who can blame them), so we should probably respect their desires to keep a bit of distance. Fair enough. I feel that way by the end of my workweek too. And, this is sensible advice when visiting anyone.
Moving through the small barn, we exited to the yard to meet the male alpacas.
This guy photobombed my shot of a nice light brown alpaca placed comfortably for us to pet.Here’s my successful attempt to capture the image of a very nice and soft brown-and-white guy, vey chilled out.Two males in the paddock, munching hay and waiting for us to leave.
As if all this wasn’t enough to soothe the savage breast (yes, it’s breast, not beast; see here), there was also a gift shop. Oh yeah.
We all left for our book club meeting with heads and hearts full of alpaca love. In case you (like me) are now giving serious thought to throwing it all in and becoming an alpaca farmer, look no further than here. We discussed the idea in great detail during book club, but no one has given notice at their job yet. Yet.
Now, let’s move to more urban time-outs and the search for the brief wellness break, perhaps on the way home from the grocery store.
In a fit of late-night FaceBook buying imprudence, I purchased a “special deal” on a combo massage chair and salt-water-pod float experience. No, they don’t put the massage chair in the water; they are two separate experiences. The establishment is called The Indoor Oasis, about a 25-minute drive from my house. It was tucked away in the back corner of a quaint office park (this IS New England, people, so such things are possible), so not easy to find. But find it I did, and up the stairs I went, to find these nice people waiting for me.
The entrance to The Indoor Oases, with a lovely blue wall, wood registration desk, and friendly folks behind the desk.
I was greeted warmly, offered water and then seated in front of a safety video, which was hard to pay attention to, because I was curiously looking around. I did manage to catch the part about taking a shower– either before or after, or both (I did both to be on the safe side).
Intro and safety video for my float experience. Showering plays an important role, so is covered here.
Then it was time for my massage chair massage. Honestly, I didn’t have very high expectations. I’ve tried a few of these in the past, and my impression was pretty meh. Well, apparently I had never met the Kyota Kokoro M488 4D Massage Chair. Then, on Friday afternoon at 3:36pm, everything changed.
Hello, lover…
Oh, my new massage chair soulmate may not look so pretty, with its brownish/bronze and black naugahyde upholstery. But you can’t judge a chair by its covering. The nice guy from the front desk got me set up in the chair, which involved shoving my legs and feet into the front slots, sticking my arms below the arm rests in a little chamber surrounded by soft polyester material, and nestling my shoulders and head in between pads designed to hold me in place, too.
Where my legs and feet go.slots for my arms– no, it’s not a panini press.The guy adjusted my shoulders and head and put the head pads in place. Gulp…
Was I about to blast off somewhere? Well, yeah– to the land of sublime chair massage nirvana!
Oh. My. God. What followed was a 20-minute wild multi-sensory ride in what I can only describe as a Dr. Seuss-like steampunk hilarious full-body pleasure machine. The chair made all sorts of noises– huffs and puffs and wheezes of air filling up chambers and squeezing out of them like bellows (if bellows were incorporated into a living room set). It groaned and clicked and clacked, thumped (there was a lot of thumping) rolled, grumbled, hissed and knocked. All in service of giving me a variety of strong sensations consonant with being massaged by, well, an animate Dr. Seuss-like chair creature.
My arms and legs and hands and feet were pressed and squeezed. The bottoms of my feet were massaged by knobby rollers. My back and butt were manipulated by, uh, I don’t know– thumpy stick-like rotating things under the naugahyde seat. I didn’t laugh out loud, although I think no one would’ve heard me through all the racket the chair was making. I was equal parts amused and relaxed by the end of the 20 minutes.
At this point, I was pretty maximally blissful. But wait– I still had to do the float. Well, here we go– once more into the breach…
The same guy showed me my Float room– instead of a smallish pod, they have a whole room you can stand up in, so there’s less worry about feeling claustrophobic. Here’s what the setup looks like:
The room with a shower, bench (not seen here), and the door open to the float area.Inside the float room– it’s at least 6.5 ft (2meters plus) long, with controls for mood lighting, star points lights on ceiling, music and intercom for front desk.
Anyone will float in this water– it’s super duper salty. There’s a spray bottle in there to spray your face if you get salt water in your eyes. The foam ring on the left is for under your head if you want it more out of the water, but I found it unnecessary. I tried all sensory options– with and without music, and with and without lights. All of them were nice. Here’s what the light show looks like:
I was supposed to float and relax and transcend my earthly burdens for 90 minutes. I have to admit, I started getting a little antsy before the hour was up. So I got out, showered (a necessity because of all the salt), took pictures and got dressed. Don’t get me wrong: it was very nice, floating there– warm and woozy and peaceful and colorful. But honestly, I’ve done a fair bit of floating in my time, and this was not so different. Of course, your mileage may vary.
I’m glad I tried both the float and the massage chair experiences. In the end, I am definitely Team Massage Chair. I’ll definitely be back for that, and I’m bringing friends.
And if I have to choose between the alpaca farm and the steampunk huffing and puffing massage chair, I’d say: why choose? We can have both! What a world we live in, huh?
So, friends, have you tried out of these sorts of escapes? Have you petted any particularly charming animals lately? Taken a ride on a magical La-Z-boy? Let me know– I want in on the fun.
Either your knees don’t hurt and you should do all you can to keep it that way, or they do hurt and you want the pain to stop. Either your knees will definitely need to be replaced at some point, or you’re going to fend that surgery off for a lifetime.
The thing is, all roads lead to knee-specific strengthening. I’ve done the same exercises to fend off surgery, to get ready for surgery, and to recover from surgery. Right now I’m doing knee physio three times a day.
I don’t often offer advice on this blog. Mostly I think we just tell our stories and set out things we think readers might find useful. But this is different. Trust me, you don’t want knee replacement surgery. It’s painful and it’s time consuming.
I know I’m not a physiotherapist. I don’t even play one on television. So likely you might want to seek out professional advice. But I’m not sure there are bad outcomes from paying attention to your knees now, before you need to.
The worse that happens is that you do a lot of knee specific training and still need surgery down the road. That’s okay. They muscles around your knee will be stronger and recovery will be easier.
I don’t think I ever appreciated one legged squats until I had to lower myself to, and get up from, a toilet seat, with just one leg.
I still think knees are horribly designed but it’s good to know that there’s a lot you can do to make things better.
Here’s a couple of Instagram workouts focusing in on knees, followed by my favorite physiotherapists on the internet, Bob and Brad.
I’m struggling to figure out how to keep myself sufficiently active these days. I have a new, intellectually stimulating job that I’m generally really happy with. But it’s working from home, and although you just can’t beat the commute, I find myself far less active than I was in my previous university administration job.
I can’t say I actually miss the 5 flights of stairs I walked up each morning going into work, but I kind of do miss the energy of rushing myself out the door and up to my office for the start of the day.
I get that I have the power within me to go for a start-of-day walk to get me going, but oh my gosh, when I’m learning a WHOLE bunch of stuff for an intense job, I really have been wanting to take advantage of that extra time in my day for sleep or just getting to my desk early.
Sigh.
Last month I wrote asking for suggestions for how to keep active while working from home and I got some great advice – thanks! It boiled down to self-discipline though in some ways.
That is an ongoing challenge for me, in terms of exercise (see: Wait, I Like Exercising?) However, I also am thinking I need to give myself a little space here. I have been at my new job 6 weeks now, and although it’s awesome it’s A LOT. I am back in a career (claims adjusting) I haven’t done in almost 20 years, and I am handling complex commercial losses that are far outside of the kind of work I did previously. Honestly, it’s cool. But it’s also intellectually demanding.
How I feel after a long day reading policies and claims
Maybe I just need to let my brain be my exercise for a month or so? I don’t think that I want a sedentary lifestyle long term, but perhaps it’s ok for a short term? I have been taking time in the day to meditate pretty often. I need it.
I will say, I also have continued to go to weekly yoga at my former workplace. I even got my own yoga mat (thanks colleagues who loaned me theirs!). Even though it’s only once a week, it’s made a HUGE difference to my comfort in my hips. Ideally I would like to be doing that twice a week, but the course teacher only teaches once a week.
At least, though, the yoga helps with my hips and my physical balance. I just walk so few steps in a day…
Of course the other thing that is stealing all the free time I might have had for aquafit and dog walking is my KIDS. It is the end of the year music season for them, and as high school kids they have had SO MANY activities to be driven to and from, and also witnessed. My husband and I share that work, but ultimately it’s really interrupted any sense of rhythm I can develop in my new life.
So that’s me this month: not super active and feeling concerned about needing more balance. Your advice last month was great! How have you worked through crunch times in your life?
Philosopher Kate Manne, in On Bodily Non-Problems with a Name, offers a feminist analysis of the names that are given to unruly body parts.
Manne writes, “How often do we name bodily non-problems—states of the body that are entirely benign, painless, and have no discernible import for anyone, in being a purely aesthetic variant? For just about every body part, head to toe, I could think of such a label: widow’s peak; eye bags; crow’s feet; geographic tongue; turkey neck; side boob; uniboob; skin tags; FUPA; strawberry legs; cankles. And so on.
And who does this labeling and naming serve, in the long term? My hunch is: nobody, save for capitalism.”
I enjoyed Manne’s piece and recommend you go have a read. Over the years I’ve been writing about these names and wishing the naming trend would come to an end.
From that post, “Partly I think it’s connected to nervousness about weight and disgust about fat. (Chubby there is bad because chubby everywhere is bad, now your labia can be too fat along with everything else.)
Partly it’s because there should be no reminders that women’s bodies are at all sexual. No visible labia goes along with no visible nipples. (Read about nipple phobia here.)
And of course it’s about selling us things. Create a problem, some new body insecurity and then market a solution.
This makes the most sense to me since I didn’t know what camel toe was until Lululemon came along with the solution. Ignorance is bliss, I guess. Like the visible panty lines of my youth (pre thong, I bought special underwear designed to minimize VPL about which I only became aware after an ad campaign for said underwear mentioned the problem) and visible nipples now (saw special bandaid like stickers in a store just today, to wear on your nipples, under clothing and to avoid visible nipples), it’s one more thing women have to check on the way out the door. Body policing and the internalized panopticon continues.”
Heads up to all our readers who may be triggered by discussions of eating disorders, diet culture, and white beauty norms: Dove has released another entry in its self-esteem project. I won’t embed the video here in case it autoplays, but you can see it and read more about it here.
I do want to talk about the campaign as this short film is tied to an American legislative lobby to limit youth exposure to toxic beauty content. Dove’s parent company Unilever is partnering with Lizzo, a musician, undergarment clothing designer and body positive influencer.
I’ve written about Lizzo and her work to challenge white beauty standards. The film profiles a young white woman Mary and the influences on her self image. The end of the film features a number of youth and their mothers of different ethnicities and also different shapes and sizes.
Dove has not been without its detractors for its series of commercials focusing on self image. It’s always good to question the assumptions on which these are based. However, I did take a look through the resources Dove has pulled together to bolster their campaign for change and I was pleased to see how the campaigns have evolved including addressing non binary and androgynous representations of body image and beauty. You can find the resources here on the Dove site. They include resources for parents, teachers, and youth leaders/mentors.
Too often body image is inextricably linked with size and social expectations (largely unrealistic, and frequently white-dominant). Aiming to achieve these unrealistic goals is tied to limited and restrictive food consumption and exercise.
It’s disheartening to see how fitness is tied to a physical beauty standard throughout multiple social media networks/platforms. It is important to eat well to fuel our bodies, howsoever they present, and it is really important to enjoy moving our bodies as much as we are able to work our hearts, build our bones and muscles for long-term physical health and boost our mental health and wellbeing.
More media literacy in school curriculums, more attention paid to what teens are consuming, and more understanding of the risks and dangers idealized and manipulated imagery can pose to impressionable minds. I really like Dove’s link to community legislative action as it’s a shift away from the individualized focus where women once again hold responsibility for changing their responses rather than the sources of those negative and harmful ideals changing their approaches to weight, diet and exercise.
If we really want to help our youth grow and thrive physically and mentally, we need to build a culture of inclusive fitness based on diversity of experience, background and ability. We would love to hear your recommendations for resources parents, teachers and youth leaders can use. Share your favourites in the comments.
Berries
MarthaFitat55 enjoys powerlifting, swimming and yoga.
What do we really know about the long-term benefits of sport sampling?
The risks and negative outcomes of early sport specialization are now well understood. From research on sport attrition and when and why people (particularly teenage girls) drop out of sport, researchers have identified several factors that contribute to negative sport and physical activity experiences.
Sport specialization involves high-intensity training in one sport to the exclusion of all other sports. While it was long believe to be a path to high performance success and advanced skill acquisition, the research literature and Canada’s Long-Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity framework agree that specialization prior to late adolescence can do far more harm than good.
Plenty is known about the risks of early sport specialization, particularly the connections between intensive training and negative outcomes with respect to overuse injury risk. Ample research also suggests that early specialization is linked to a greater risk of burnout, shortened peak performance, and decreased motivation to engage in activity. Yet the posited alternative to specialization, most often a multisport experience, where youth “sample” a variety of activities and in doing so gain myriad sport skills, is far less studied.
Also known as diversification, sport sampling refers to athletes who take part in more than one organized sport in a year as well as informal and enjoyable physical activities. Sport sampling is assumed to be beneficial and protective, but why?
A lack of diversified activity may not allow young children to develop the appropriate neuromuscular and motor skills that are effective for participation in lifelong sport and physical activity. Some research supports the idea that children aged 6 to 12 who participate in a wide array of sports are more likely to be involved in sport as adults, suggesting that sampling has a protective effect against burnout and attrition from sport. Athletes who avoid specializing are also believed to be more physically literate and comfortable executing a wider variety of motor skills that are transferable across sports. The idea that sport sampling can be an effective pathway to both high-performance sport success and continuing sport participation into and throughout adulthood is increasingly prevalent. Yet we don’t actually know if or why sampling or diversification in youth correlate with physically activity levels and physical literacy in adults.
Does having a multisport experience prior to the first identified dropout point in sport (i.e., approximately age 12) correlate with being a physically active and/or physically literate young adult, and adult?
We are working with Sport for Life to see if research data supports this belief and assumption.
To do so, a survey addressing what you recall participating in prior to age 12 and what you enjoy today has been created, with the option of signing up for a follow-up interview with a member of the research team. Canadians aged 18-60 are invited to participate. (A separate study looking at similar themes in older adults is planned for the future.)
Image description: A poster advertising the study with a QR code to access the informed consent form for the survey at https://uwinnipeg.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1LdNbqu5BFL8Ptk. The background images feature people engaging in jogging, yoga, skiing and stand up paddleboarding.
More information about the study and access to the informed consent form to participate is available here or by scanning the QR code above. The survey can be completed in English or French.
The Principal Investigator of the study is Dr. Melanie Gregg at the University of Winnipeg, and the study has been funded by a SSHRC Partnership Development grant. The University of Winnipeg’s research ethics board has approved this study.
Sarah Teetzel is a professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management at the University of Manitoba and a member of the research team working with colleagues at Sport for Life Canada on the Diversification for an Active Life study. She is a former U Sports swimmer who now spends her leisure time playing driveway hockey, hiking, and every so often remembering why she used to love to swim by visiting her local pool.
Image description: My team, RunFam, at the Run for Retina Research. Five runners standing arm in arm, smiling, from left right: short-haired woman (Pat) with sunglasses on and bib number 297, man (Kevin) with a black ball cap and tank and bib number 296, man (Ed) with black ball cap, woman (Tracy) with black ballcap and sunglasses and tank with bib number 192, blond-haired woman (Julie) wearning subglasses and a tank and leaning in, bib number 248.
On Sunday I did the Run for Retina Research 10K. It’s an event that has been running for 20 years, with options for 5K, 10K, or a half marathon. I’ve done it many times (including in October 2022), and it is known locally as a fun race where you usually get an extra jacket or technical top. It’s also for a really good cause in support of urgent eye care at one of our hospitals.
But oh wow what a brutal 10K it was. I have done other 10Ks without training enough, but I don’t think I’ve ever before been untrained quite to this degree. And of course we would be having unseasonably warm weather for April.
Despite that it was a tough slog and I ran most of it on my own, with my music and my inner voice vacillating between “why are you doing this?” and “you can do this!” it actually turned out to be all-in-all a fun day for the RunFam.
Our team was the second highest fundraising team of the event. We deserve to feel good about this considering that across all the distances there were 700 participants.
We all finished even though we didn’t feel super-prepared. For me, it was my 10K PW (“personal worst”) but oh well. I am not in the shape that I used to be and I didn’t train consistently, so to expect anything more would have been to believe in miracles. That said, I am now feeling inspired for the next event, the Shoppers Drug Mart sponsored Women’s Run on June 11th. Maybe this time, an upcoming race will be the training goal I need to actually get me out the door for regular training. The Run for Retina was supposed to function in that same incentivizing way but it didn’t. But that doesn’t mean the next challenge won’t.
It’s also just fun to get out and do things with others, even if I score a PW instead of a PB. And I’m happy we took part in the last ever Run for Retina Research. Based on the jackets hanging in my closet and the one long-sleeved jersey, I can see that I’ve done it four times. The latest jacket is quite lovely, a white and grey zip-up that fits well and looks quite smart.
I know lots of people who don’t like doing events that travel the same routes that they do on a regular basis. It’s great to do destination events, but I actually enjoy the simplicity of keeping it local and I like contributing to London, Ontario’s vibrant running community. We are incredibly fortunate to have pathways all along the river, and somehow on race day those well-travelled routes feel different and more alive.
Every year, the third Monday in April is a holiday in Boston. Schools and state offices are closed, as well as public libraries. My university is also closed, giving us a little breather before the last push to finish out the spring semester. You might be wondering, “what holiday is celebrated this time of year?” There are two answers.
Answer 1: Patriot’s Day! It commemorates some of the first battles in 1775 of the American Revolutionary War, (battles of Lexington and Concord) and also the rides by Paul Revere and William Dawes to alert the American colonial militia that the British were coming.
American Colonial reenactors on Lexington Green.A guy on horseback reenacting William Dawes’ ride to Lexington, stopping at the Merle Norman beauty salon in Arlington on the way. Photo courtesy of L. Desrosiers.
Answer 2: The Boston Marathon! Here’s some info about it from their Wikipedia page:
[The Boston Marathon] is traditionally held on Patriots’ Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was inspired by the success of the first marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics. The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world’s best-known road racing events. It is one of six World Marathon Majors. Its course runs from Hopkinton in southern Middlesex County to Copley Square in Boston.
April weather in New England is always a question mark. It’s been unseasonably hot, seasonably cold, and there were fog and rain and gray skies this year.
I love watching the Boston Marathon. Unlike the thousands of folks who throng to the course, holding up signs and cheering on the runners, I take the easy route and watch it on TV, where it’s broadcast live all day on a local station. But it’s always thrilling and dramatic and so emotional. I always turn on the TV in time for the last 30 minutes of the men’s race and 50 minutes of the women’s race; the pro men leave the start line 8 minutes before the pro women, and all other runners leave in waves after that.
Why do I watch every year? I mean, I am not a runner, and I don’t follow marathons or professional running events in general. What I can say is this: in my town, on our local holiday, the local TV station (and now, ESPN too) runs coverage of the whole event until 4pm. This means there’s time to watch humans progressing along a 26.2 mile/42km course– a serious athletic feat, no matter what the pace. Seeing the elite women, running under 6-minute miles (this year’s winning pace was avg 5:40/mile) provokes in me all sorts of emotions : awe, thrill, incredulity, pride, worry (hoping they’ll finish without injury) and appreciation of their dedication, skill and talent.
Here’s a look at Helen Obiri, who won the women’s marathon this year.
The front pack about 6 miles from the finish. Obiri is second from left.Obiri, having taken the lead a while back, making the final turn to Boylston street for her triumphant finish.Helen Obiri, crossing the finish line in 2:21-37, winning the Boston Marathon.
This year is also the 10th anniversary of a bombing that happened at the finish line of the marathon, killing three people and injuring hundreds, including 17 people who lost limbs. It was a horrible day and a horrible time. There have been many memorials erected and services held to remember and honor all those who were affected by the attack. One of the nicest ones was a 100-golden-retriever one-mile walk to the marathon finish line to honor the late Spencer, a golden retriever who came to be known as the official Boston marathon race dog. Here’s Spencer in 2018, not minding the rain and cold, urging the runners on.
Spencer the therapeutic dog braved the rain and cold to continue tradition of cheering on runners at the Boston Marathon for the third consecutive year! https://t.co/x5UGJK0KGcpic.twitter.com/npdk5YbHWz
Here are the retrievers who came out to honor Spencer, the day before the race.
A group of Golden retrievers and their people. The dogs are wearing yellow “Golden Strong: bandanas. And sorry, they’re totally sold out.Close up of some of these attractive and noble animals, with their peopleSometimes you just gotta carry the dog home, even if it’s an 80-pound Golden Retriever.
Sometimes, you don’t have to be an active participant in an athletic event to feel and in fact be a part of it. This is how the Boston Marathon feels to me. It does inspire to get outside and explore the spring (once the rain stops…) and reminds me of how wonderful and astoundingly resilient human bodies can be. And this year, it reminds me that dogs can help us in processing our pasts and comfort and amuse us in our present. Not such a bad message for a Wednesday, huh?
Readers, are you attached to any athletic events (big or small) in your town? How do you feel about them? How do you participate? I’d love to hear from you. m
This reel came up in my social media newsfeed because lots of my friends liked it. And I get why they do. Women don’t have to age in the way that society expects us too.
I personally plan on defying a number of age related, gendered stereotypes in the years ahead.
Why can’t we just celebrate elderly women kicking aside our walkers and doing pull-ups from the ceiling?
The problem is, it’s complicated.
On the one hand, we want to encourage women to take control of our health destinies. We need to fight against the story that says older women are necessarily frail, fragile, and lacking in strength, mobility, and balance. Yes, women can do a lot to retain muscle and bone density with strength training. We can deadlift and do pull-ups at 40, at 50, and for some of us at 70, 80, and beyond.
On the other hand, I don’t want to encourage women to do this by depicting life with a cane or a walker as a lesser life. We have some control over our health but there’s also an awful amount of genetic and other luck involved. Walkers and canes aren’t necessarily bad things.
I’m using crutches right now as I recover from knee surgery
And I’ve been finding that some people are weird about crutches. The crutches enable me to walk further, to walk faster, I’m more stable but lots of people act like it’s the crutches that are holding me back. No, it’s the surgery and injury that are doing that. The crutches are an assistive device. They’re a help.
Crutches Photo by Maksim Chernyshev on Scopio
I hope both that I recover well and don’t need crutches for very long, and that if I do encounter an injury or a medical condition that has me using crutches, a cane, or a walker in the years ahead that I’ll feel okay about that too.
